Angler's 405-pound yellowfin tuna is the weightiest on record

There was spirited celebration on the San Diego waterfront Monday morning after the boat Vagabond returned from a long-range fishing trip into Mexican waters and offloaded the heaviest yellowfin tuna ever caught by an angler.

The behemoth, landed by Mike Livingston of Sunland, Calif., weighed 405.2 pounds; it's girth was 61 inches and it précised nearly 86 inches from nose to tail.

Livingston, whose previous large tuna weighed 100 pounds, said he developed a rash while "worrying about how big this fish was going to be."

He was so exhausted after the marathon battle that he quit fishing for the day and caught only one small tuna the remainder of the trip. Vagabond anglers caught eight tuna weighing 200-plus pounds, including two that topped 300 pounds.

The only known previous catch of a yellowfin heavier than Weisenhutter's was a 399-pound specimen caught in 1992 aboard the Polaris Supreme. But because more than one angler handled the rod the catch did not qualify as an IGFA record.

Livingston's fish was trucked to a taxidermist, where mounts will be made for him and the Vagabond Sportfishing office. A brief statement on the Point Loma Sportfishing website read:

"Holy Cow! The Vagabond long-range sport fisher just returned to the dock today with a historic, potential world record mega cow tuna catch. The official weight of 405.2 lbs. was met with cheers, champagne, and congratulations all around."

Newborn Panda at Atlanta Zoo Is a Boy

It's a boy! The giant panda cub born earlier this month at Zoo Atlanta is a little man with a big belly who is already showing his black and white markings, a zoo spokeswoman said Friday.

Veterinarians had to wait about two weeks before they could pry the baby from its mother long enough for an exam to decide whether it was male or female. "The exam yesterday showed his skin looks good. He's got a nice little belly from nursing. He is doing very well," said spokeswoman Keisha Hines.

The cub was born to 13-year-old giant panda Lun Lun. He is the panda's third offspring with her mate, Yang Yang. And Lun Lun is "doing great. She is a great third time mom," said Hines.

The boy cub, who is the only panda to be born in the United States this year, has not been named yet, since according to Chinese tradition children are not named until they reach 100 days old.

He probably to go on display for the public in late February or early March, Hines said. Lun Lun's other son Xi Lan, who was born in 2008, resides at the Atlanta zoo. Her daughter Mei Lan, born in 2006, was sent to China in February.

Fewer than 1,600 giant pandas are expected to remain in the wild, and some 280 live in zoos around the world.

Ancient Egyptian Lake Discovered From Space

American researchers have said they discovered the bits and pieces of a massive lake in Egypt as large as one of the Great Lakes. The discovery of the over 100,000 years old lake was long-established from space shuttle imagery.

ScienceNews.org reported that the images revealed a lake wider than Lake Erie that once existed a few miles west of the current Nile River. From the time it first appeared about 250,000 years ago, the lake in Egypt’s Tushka region would have grown and shrunk periodically until finally drying up about 80,000 years ago, researchers say.

Knowing where such ancient bodies of water were located helps archaeologists understand the kind of environment encountered by Homo Sapiens migrating out of Africa, study leader Ted Maxwell, a geologist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, said in statements to reporters. “You realize that hey, this place was full of really large lakes when people were wandering into the rest of the world,” he says.

Desert winds have eroded and sands have buried much of the region’s landscape, says Maxine Kleindienst, an anthropologist at the University of Toronto, but planned field studies will search for ancient shorelines suggested by the radar images.

Today Egyptians rely almost exclusively on the Nile and its annual floods for their water. The ancient lakes, Maxwell says, suggest that such flooding was already a fixture a quarter million years ago.

FIFA World cup 2018 in Russia

FIFA's World Cup will be held in Qatar in 2022, the leading body said in a press conference Thursday.

The tiny, wealthy Middle Eastern nation beat out the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia to host what will be the main sporting event in the world in 2022. FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed that the ruling body's wish to grow the sport around the world played a big part in the committee's thinking.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia, the sport's governing body publicized Thursday. The Russian government has promised billions of dollars to build new stadiums and infrastructure. A tournament in Russia would also open a enormous, relatively untapped market for FIFA, which has awarded World Cups to South Africa in 2010 and Japan and South Korea in 2002 for similar reasons.

Russia beat out England and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands to host what will be the main sporting event in the world in 2018. It will be the first time the contest has been held in Eastern Europe.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin certain against attending the ceremony in Zurich, but his deputy Igor Shuvalov was present to accept the first successful bid from Eastern Europe.

"You have entrusted us with the FIFA World Cup for 2018 and I can promise that you will never feel sorry it. Let us make history together," he told the assembled delegates.

Camelot – A Replica of Bear Grylls’ Famous Camel Carcass

If you’re a fan of Discovery Channel, you know about Bear Grylls’ crazy adventures from “Man vs. Wild”, and chiefly about the famous camel carcass he used to protect himself in the Sahara Desert.

In an original advertising move to endorse the new season of “Man vs. Wild”, Discovery Channel placed a replica of the camel carcass in Sydney’s Wynyard Park and put it up for rent, on a popular website.

Passers-by had the opportunity to crawl inside the carcass, dubbed Camelot, to see how Bear felt during his survival test in Sahara, and also fill in a form telling Discovery why they would be the best tenant for this unusual property, for the chance to win a holiday voucher worth $2,500.

Olympic champions show gravel to snatch Asian Games gold

Olympic champion Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia had to save two championship points before beating defending Asian Games champions Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia 16-21, 26-24, 21-19 in the men’s doubles last on Saturday.

The victory also rights the duo’s decision to break away from the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI). The Malaysian pair, who were hoping to emulate Ng Boon Bee-Tan Yee Khan as the only Malaysians to victorious defend the Asian Games badminton gold, will surely rue the two missed opportunities to seal victory.

The pairs had fought tooth and nail right from the opening serve and the score was tied at 16-16 before the Malaysians won five points in a row to take the first game. Lifted by the opening win, the Malaysians continued great the Indonesians and opened up an 8-4 lead, only to be pecked back at 12-12. They then had two chances at 21-20 and 23-22 to wrap but the title but fell 26-24.

It was the Indonesians who were now on the front foot as they raced to a 14-9 lead. Kien Keat-Boon Heong, however, won seven of the next nine points to make it 16-16 but the Indonesians found an extra gear to clinch the rubber 21-19. “They played well and were more daring than us. They took their chances well,” said Boon Heong.

Kien Keat said: “We gave it our all and it’s disappointing to settle for silver. It should have been better. But overall, we do not regret with the way we played in losing the match.”

Monkeys Cured of Color Blindness

Two male squirrel monkeys now see the world in an entire new way in full color.
Female squirrel monkeys can see in color, but male squirrel monkeys are normally red-green colorblind because they lack pigments in the retina that notice those wavelengths of light.

Now, researchers have performed gene therapy that permitted two male squirrel monkeys named Sam and Dalton to produce proteins that detect red light. As soon as the red-light-harvesting protein was made in the monkeys' eyes, the animals were able to distinguish between red and green spots in color vision tests, Jay Neitz of the University of Washington in Seattle and his collaborators report online September 17 in Nature.

The experiment wasn't supposed to work, Neitz says. People born with cataracts don't develop nerve relations that help the brain make sense of messages sent by the eye. If the defect isn't corrected early, these people stay essentially blind even if their eyes return to full function later.

Because there was no reason to assume color vision was different from other types of vision, the team had assumed it would not be possible to reverse the deficit in an adult animal.

Neitz polled experts in the vision field on whether they thought producing photoreceptors in colorblind adult monkeys could give color vision. "Every single person said, "absolutely not.'" But the researchers decided to move forward with the experiment to see if they could get the pigment protein to be made in the eye.
Male monkeys lacking the red photoreceptor protein were given injections of a virus carrying a gene for the protein.

Levels of the protein slowly rose in some retinal cells. After 20 weeks, Neitz and his colleagues started to see differences in the way Sam and Dalton performed on daily color vision tests. Around that time, protein production levels peaked and the monkeys have maintained stable color vision for two years since treatment.

Still, the monkeys' actual sensation of color what it looks like to them remains a mystery?

"The achievement is technically amazing and conceptually very cool," says Melissa Saenz, a neuroscientist at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif. But even though the monkeys can distinguish some new wavelengths of light, "there's no proof that the monkeys recognize a new dimension of color," she says. For example, the monkeys may now perceive red and green as different shades of yellow and blue, colors the animals already knew.

"If it doesn't involve experiencing new sensations of color, it would not dramatically change the experience of colorblind people if the treatment were valid to humans," Saenz says.

West Ham 4 - 0 Man Utd

Rampant West Ham booked a first League Cup semi-final for 20 years after banging holders Manchester United out of the Carling Cup at snowy Upton Park. Former Red Devil Jonathan Spector was in inspired form, scoring with a header and a close-range finish to nick his first goals in English football.

The disjointed visitors, before unbeaten this season, conceded again as Carlton Cole nodded in after the break. Cole then turned Jonny Evans to fire simply past Tomas Kuszczak.

Though Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson predictably did not select his strongest team, the preliminary XI could still boast the likes of Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher and Javier Hernandez. So it still registers as something of a shock that West Ham, bottom of the Premier League, ran out such persuasive and deserved winners against the league leaders - especially in light of the Londoners' poor start to this season.

And under-pressure Hammers boss Avram Grant may now insist they are over their bad patch after a performance that was rich in assure, both individually - Nigerian striker Victor Obinna was hugely impressive as he created all four goals - and collectively.

The match started fast in freezing conditions, with both teams attacking each other as the play moved quickly from end-to-end. Obinna even tried an determined free-kick from over 30 yards before the end, displaying the confidence coursing through the veins of a west Ham side which notched their biggest win over United in 80 years.

World's Incredible Glaciers Caves

These are the amazing pictures from the 'Ice Man' - a frosty photographer who is prepared to go to strange lengths to capture the perfect picture. Eric Guth is the real life Jack Frost spending days hiding out in some of the world's most spectacular glacier caves. The 30-year-old regularly camps for days inside the eerie glaciers which can reach incredible temperatures sometimes as low as 20 degrees below freezing.

His adventures to find the perfect icy picture have taken him all over the world - from Patagonia in South America to Iceland in the North Atlantic. As these amazing pictures show his trips are well worth it as he captures the dramatic beauty of these hidden low temperature landscapes.

Eric, from Portland, USA, said 'I have been enthralled with ice for as long as I can remember so I can't imagine doing anything else.' 'My mum was a photographer and when she passed her camera down to me, taking pictures of glaciers just seemed like the natural thing to do.' 'I have been known to camp out for anything up to four or five days.'

'Some of the caves are minute and I can cover the whole thing in an hour or so but some take days to explore and I like to cover every nook and cranny.' 'The long camping trips can be pretty strong and it's definitely a change from the sun I am used to at home but I love it.'

'I've made it my mission to track down the most spectacular glaciers in the world and while I have seen dozens already the sight always takes my breath away'.

Even Chimp has right hand habbit

Humans are not the only species to prefer to use their right hand chimpanzees also share the mannerism, according to a new study by Spanish scientists.

The primates were provided with food concealed inside tubes and the scientists monitored them to see which hand they used to get at it, either their fingers or with the help of tools.

"The chimpanzees showed a special use of the right hand to get the food from the tube," the Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution, which coordinated the study, said in a statement. "This feature had traditionally been considered exclusively human and had been believed to be caused by asymmetries experiential in the human brain that are related to the realization of complicated activities that require the use and coordination of both hands."

The study also found that female chimpanzees, like their human counterparts, are more likely to be right-handed than males.

The researchers said this suggests "that just like in our species, there are shared biological factors, genetic and hormonal, that modulate the functioning of our brain."

Wikileaks - let the truth out

WikiLeaks is an international non-profit media organization that publishes submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous sources and leaks. Its website, launched in 2006, is run by The Sunshine Press. Within a year of its launch, the site claimed a database that had grown to more than 1.2 million documents.

The organization has described itself as having been founded by Chinese dissidents, as well as journalists, mathematicians, and start-up company technologists from the U.S., Taiwan, Europe, Australia, and South Africa. Newspaper articles and The New Yorker magazine (7 June 2010) describe Julian Assange, an Australian journalist and Internet activist, as its director.

In April 2010, WikiLeaks posted video from a 2007 incident in which Iraqi civilians were killed by U.S. forces, on a website called Collateral Murder. In July of the same year, WikiLeaks released Afghan War Diary, a compilation of more than 76,900 documents about the War in Afghanistan not previously available for public review.

At 5pm EST Friday 22nd October 2010 WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. The 391,832 reports ('The Iraq War Logs'), document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009 (except for the months of May 2004 and March 2009) as told by soldiers in the United States Army. Each is a 'SIGACT' or Significant Action in the war. They detail events as seen and heard by the US military troops on the ground in Iraq and are the first real glimpse into the secret history of the war that the United States government has been privy to throughout.

The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 'civilians'; 23,984 'enemy' (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 'host nation' (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 'friendly' (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths.That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period. For comparison, the 'Afghan War Diaries', previously released by WikiLeaks, covering the same period, detail the deaths of some 20,000 people. Iraq during the same period, was five times as lethal with equivalent population size.

World’s Largest Snow Drawing

These odd circles may look like messages from aliens or the humorous graffiti of penguins, but it’s in fact the ephemeral snow and ice art of earth artist Jim Denevan, best known for his temporary beach masterpieces. The snow circles are somewhat of a exit from Denevan’s usual medium, but he’s no stranger to large-scale natural art. This nine-square-mile snow drawing currently holds the record as the world’s largest snow drawing the record previous to that belonged to a sand drawing created in the Nevada desert by Denevan.

Jim Denevan’s art is all about impermanence. His large-scale artworks are meant to exist only for very short periods of time, after which they will be rinsed away by waves, wind and weather. This very big art was created on Siberia’s frozen Lake Baikal, the world’s largest lake.

Because of the steady threat of losing the entire piece to a sharp gust of wind, a team of helpers assisted in the creation of the gigantic masterpiece. Eight people in all got out onto the ice and used brooms to brush the snow into simple, elegant circles. The work was chronicled on The Anthropologist, a site that features new artwork for Anthropologie.

The team slept in a yurt on the ice, warming themselves by a fire in the lake bed that re-froze each morning in the brutal temperatures. The expedition was filmed by a documentary filmmaker and captured by a photographer; both of these documentation methods are essential when creating art in a medium as temporary as ice.

The tundra warmed up, Lake Baikal thawed, and Jim Denevan’s lovely circles melted away forever. But the artist isn’t losing any sleep over his lost masterpiece; his goal is to make beautiful and inspiring pieces of art that only exist for a moment in time. His ephemeral art reminds us all to savor every day, to find beauty in even the most fleeting moment.

Babies For Sale at Great Prices!!!

All Reborn dolls are made in one peace, and are only sold at auctions, or from the artists. Reborn baby dolls look so real, that sometimes it is impossible to distinguish them from real live babies. It takes months to manufacture such a doll, from time to time a whole year, depending on the workpiece.
According to the creator of Reborn puppets, an English artist Deborah King, her creations are not toys for children. All of these “substitutes for the child” are intended to brighten up the gray days of adults, to find some purpose to unspent parental love.


There are healthy, chubby babies, and there are sick-looked, in-need-for-your-attention kind of babies. There are smiley, sad, sleepy, babies, in all shapes and colours. Any wishes will be fulfilled for your precious money.

Half Scale Cars

Group harrington are producing half scale cars allegedly aimed for kids, but adults can cram into them to. They build accurate half scale of the legendary timeless typical like the "Porche 356", "Mercedes Benz 300SL" "Jaguar E-type" "Bugatti T35" and the more recent "Willys Jeep". They are produced in both petrol and electric models. They can build your own car to order, you can choose any colour (metallic or solid) for the body, and any colour for the interior.

The Pink Dolphin Of Amazon Gets well-known

The feature “Amazon Alive! A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009,” gives an account of the 257 types of fish, 55 species of reptiles, 216 species of amphibians, 16 types of birds and 39 types of mammals. It also discovered 637 species of plants. One of the cutest things that they have probably discovered, is the Inia Boliviensis.

It is a species of dolphin found in that region. However, it has sure unique features that makes this animal cuter than the general ones. Inia Boliviensis also known as the pink river dolphin has an unique figure, with including a pink nose and a circular head.

Initially the scientists consider that this species of dolphin, is a subspecies of Inia Geoffrensis, which is another species of dolphin found in the same region. However, in 2006, in was discovered that Inia Boliviensis is a separate species itself, as it has more teeth, a smaller, wider and rounder body, and a smaller head too. Dolphins have always been a friendly and endearing mammal.

It recent mention in the “Amazon Alive! A Decade of Discoveries 1999-2009,” has made every one more curious about this newly discovered species. Other interesting animals that have been mentioned in the articles are bald-headed parrot, Pyrilia Aurantiocephala, huge catfish that survive on monkeys, new type of anaconda, Ranitomeya Amazonica, a frog that has a burst of flames on its head etc.

500 th planet got discovered

Astronomers have discovered the 500th exoplanet outside our solar system, a database maintained by a French astronomer says. Astrobiologist Jean Schneider of the Paris-Meudon Observatory, who compiles the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, says less than 20 years after the discovery of the first exoplanet he has logged No. 500, discovered Nov. 19, SPACE.com reported.

The 500th extrasolar planet was reported in the midst of the announcement of the discovery of several others, counting a planet tagged HIP 13044b astronomers say was born in another galaxy before being captured by our own Milky Way galaxy.

Less than two months ago astronomers announced a watershed moment, the discovery of the first potentially habitable exoplanet. Meanwhile, data is pouring in from planet-hunting instruments like NASA's Kepler space observatory.

Kepler has already identified more than 700 "candidate" stars worthy of further observation and confirmation, and a high percentage of those will probably be found to have planets, says Jon Jenkins of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute.

Jenkins is the lead analyst for the Kepler mission.

Fehily lands Kauto ride

Noel Fehily will ride Kauto Star as he bids to make record in the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day. Regular rider Ruby Walsh is missing with a broken leg as Paul Nicholls' star bids for an unprecedented fifth victory in the showpiece and a host of big-name jockeys had been linked with the mount.

However Fehily has been riding regular winner for the champion trainer and his presentation aboard Master Minded at Ascot on Saturday persuaded connections he was the man for the job.

Writing in his exclusive column at betfair.com/paulnicholls, the trainer said: "I am relieved to be able to tell you that we have made a decision on who rides Kauto Star at Kempton on Boxing Day.

"I have literally just put the phone down to Clive Smith and Noel Fehily takes the ride on Boxing Day.

Woman under arrest after falcons found in luggage

Customs officials detained eight rare falcons at the Moscow airport after a woman tried to smuggle the wrapped, boxed birds out of the country, the International Fund for Animal Welfare reported.
The gyrfalcons were found in two cartons being loaded into the hold of a plane jump for Damascus, Syria, on Sunday, the group said. The woman who checkered the cartons as her luggage was detained and released pending a court appearance.

“At least 100 wild gyrfalcons are smuggled out of Russia each year, first and foremost driven by demand from the growing popularity of falconry in the Middle East,” said IFAW’s Russia director, Masha Vorontsova, in a statement.

The fast and commanding predator is the world's largest falcon. It breeds in arctic and subarctic regions and preys primarily on large birds, according to the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

They can command as much as $50,000 on the black market. Officials suppose the birds seized at Sheremetyevo International Airport were captured in Russia’s Far East and transported through two security checkpoints and a customs inspection before being detected.

The birds are expected to stay alive and will reside at IFAW’s raptor rehabilitation center until they are ready to be released into the wild, likely sometime next month.

Top secret U.S. ‘eavesdropping’ satellite blasted into space

Top secret U.S. ‘eavesdropping’ satellite blasted into space on back of 235ft rocket. A top secret U.S. spy satellite strapped to one of the most influential rockets in the world blasted into space yesterday.

The satellite was described by the National Reconnaissance Office as ‘the largest in the world’. It is believed it will help the U.S.’s eavesdropping abilities. The un-manned Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:58pm (2258 GMT).

‘This mission helps to ensure that vital NRO resources will continue to bolster our national defence,’ said Air Force Brigadier General Ed Wilson after take-off. The mission is classified and no other details are accessible.

The rocket is 235ft tall and can launch payloads of up to 24 tons into low Earth orbit.
The Delta 4-Heavy is America’s most powerful liquid-fuelled rocket and generated 2,000,000lb of thrust at take-off. It has been in use since 2004.

More New Amphibians Found

Nosing around for "lost" amphibian species in western Colombia in September, scientists stumbled across three entirely new species as well as this beaked toad. "Its long, pointy, snoutlike nose reminds me of the nefarious villain Mr. Burns from The Simpsons television series," expedition leader Robin Moore said in a statement released Tuesday.


The unnamed, 0.7-inch-long (2-centimeter-long) toad is "easily one of the strangest amphibians I have ever seen," added Moore, an amphibian-conservation expert for Conservation International.

The toad also has an odd reproductive habit: skipping the tadpole stage. Females lay eggs on the rain forest floor that produce into fully formed toadlets.

Rocket Frog


A new species of rocket frog (pictured), found in September, is less toxic and more drably colored than other poison dart frog species, conservationists said this week
Living in and around streams, the 1.2-inch-long (3-centimeter-long) frogs carefully carry newly hatched tadpoles on their backs awaiting they reach water, where the tadpoles total their development.

Red-Eyed Mystery Toad


Found in steep Colombian cloud forests in September, this new species of toad has puzzled scientists. The toad's genus is still secrecy as is the reason for its ruby-colored eyes.
"I have never seen a toad with such vibrant red eyes," Conservation International's Moore said in a statement released this week.
"This trait is highly unusual for amphibians, and its discovery offers us a terrific opportunity to learn more about how and why it adapted this way."

New Frog Gathers No Moss


All three newfound species (pictured, the red-eyed toad in September) were active during the daytime, an unusual occurrence in amphibians, according to Conservation International.
Their daytime habits likely helped the scientists spot the new animals during the weeklong expedition.
"Finding three new species in such a short space of time," Conservation International's Moore said, "speaks to the incredibly rich biodiversity of these relatively unexplored forests and highlights their importance for conservation."